Apparatus for the wet treatment of a textile web

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to apparatus for the wet treatment of a textile web in a vat of liquid, the apparatus including an intermittently rotated compartmented drum disposed in the vat, conveyor means disposed in front of and behind the vat for the textile web, and sensor means engageable by the web for controlling the rate of movement of the web through the vat.

United States Patent [1 1 Becker 1 1 APPARATUS FOR THE WET TREATMENT OFA TEXTILE WEB [75] inventor: Arno Becker, Stuttgart-Vaihingen,

Germany- [73] Assignee: Bruckner Apparatebau GmbH,

Erbach/Odenwald, Germany [22] Filed: Fcb.25, 1972 [21] Appl. No.:229,393

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Feb. 25, 1971 Germany P 21 09009.5

[52] US. Cl 168/158, 68/177 [51] Int. Cl. B05c 3/134 [58] Field ofSearch 68/158, 177, 178, 68/179 [56] References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 1246,993 11/1917 Puyet 68/177 X Dec. 18, 1973 3,700,404 10/1972Junisch et al. 68/177 X 3,686,902 8/1972 Flcissncr ct 111W 2,239,6074/1941 Himsworth 68/158 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 933,922 10/1955Germany 68/158 Primary Examiner-Harvey O. Hlornsby Asrsiivtan!Examiner-Philip R. Coe Attorney-John F. Learman et a1.

[ 5 7 1 ABSTRACT This invention relates to apparatus for the wettreatment of a'textile web in a vat of liquid, the apparatus includingan intermittently rotated compartmented drum disposed in the vat,conveyor means disposed in front of and behind the vat for the textileweb, and sensor means engageable by the web for controlling the rate ofmovement of the web through the vat.

14 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTED DEC] 8 I973 SHEET 2 0F 3 Fig. 3

PATENIEDHEE I 8 m3 SHEET 3 0F 3 l STEPPED 3 b Is DRIVE 3 so CONTROL I,I4

GATE v I DETEcToR OF TIME '2 I INTERvAL f BETWEEN STEPPED I DRIVESIGNALS OF DRUM 0 AND b I 6o SWITCH I3 STEPPED b DRIVE 7 L c NTRoL I2 I6 DETECTOR STEPPED C OF E DRIvE I TIMER 1 OCCURRENCE OF DRUM UNIT OFSIGNAL 0 VIS-o-VIS SIGNALS c AND D SwITcI-I a;

1 APPARATUS FOR THE WET TREATMENT OF A TEXTILE WEB V Devicestare knownfor the wet treatment (in particular for washing, dyeing, rinsing) of atextile web, wherein the web is conveyed through a vat of liquid bymeans ofta compartmented drum. During these wet treatments the textileweb generally shrinks. To allow for the shrinkage effect, the conveyormeans disposed behind thevat are driven at a somewhat lower speed thanthe means in front of the vat.

If however thetextile web shrinks more strongly than assumed, thecompartments in the drum are prematurely emptied on the outlet side,sothat the web is subjected to increased tension (either from thecompartment partitions orthrough the liquid). If on the contrary :thetextile web shrinks less than expected, the compartments in the drum donot empty at the correct time, and this-also affects the functioning ofthe plant.

Since pivoting-or compensating rollers give an extended length offabric, and hence with elastic fabrica tensile stress which is notunduly increased, one'might merely conceive manual control ofthe'conveyor means in dependence on thesgreater-or lessershrinkageaApart from the associated labour requirements, there ishowever .a decisive difficulty in this, since the operative cannotreadily detect fromthe outsidehow many compartments in the drum alreadycontain a reduced amountof fabric orarequite empty. This isparticularlythe case when the amountof'fabric in "the individual 'compartmen'ts'isnot large. With a heavy shrinkageof the fabric itcan then readily happenthat all the compartments areemptied (without the operative immediatelyrecognizing the fact), so that the textile web is pulled externally onthe drum, overthe compartment partitions through the whole bath ofliquid, and in the area of the compartment partitions is thereforeeasilydamaged or even torn, and at least is stretched.

The object of the invention is therefore to avoid. these defects ofknown constructions in providing a device of the type described whichwill permit reliable and automatically operating monitoring andcontroLallowing forthe shrinkage which has taken place or for otherdifferences in the filling of the drum compartments.

According to the invention,this object is achieved in thatin the area ofemergence of the textile web from the uppermost drum compartment tobeemptied there is provided a sensor which assumes a first positionwhen'the textile web is present in the uppermost drum compartment, andassumes a second position when the textile web is absent from saidcompartment, wherein said sensor acts on control meanswhich whennecesundesirably sary act on the conveyor means to produce increased *ordecreased'fillingof the compartmented drum.

' Two embodiments of the invention are shown schematically by way'ofexample in the drawingspln these: FIG. 1 is a section through atirst'embodiment of a webtreatment device in accordancewith theinvention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of apparatus associated with theembodiment of FIG. 3 forcontrolling the speed of movement of the webthrough the vat.

The device shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 for the wet treatmentof a textile web1 includes a vat 2for liquid, wherein is disposed a compartmented drum 3which contains six (or eight) compartments separated from each other bypartitions 3a. The partitioned drum 3 is rotated by a conventionalstepped drive (not shown) at specified selective time intervals, andeach time by one compartment, in the direction of arrow 4.

.The textile web 1 is transported by conveyor means 5, 6 disposed infront of and behind the liquid vat 2. The speed of conveyance can bevaried by conventional control means described hereinafter.

In the area of supplyof the textile web to the var 2 of liquidtanunwinding device 7 is disposed in such manner that in each pivotalposition of this device 7 the web is laid on itself (see the-endpositions of the unwinding device 7 indicated in dotted lines).

In the area where the textile web 1 emerges from the drum compartmentwhich is tobeemptied and has just become open, there is disposed apivoted sensor 8 whichcooperates with a control switch device 9 whichmaybe connected in the circuit of the drum drive, the conveyor meansdrive, orboth. The textile web iscarried over a deflector roller 10 inthis zone.

The vat 2 is filled with liquid up to approximately the level of theaxis 11 of the compartmented drum 3. Consequently' the layers of textileweb 1 which have @just been folded (see the uppermost compartment on theleft in the drum 3) are not yet in thevat of liquid, so

thatneat laying of the web into the compartmentsis enstepped drive unit12 the operation of which is controlled by a stepped drivecontrol device13 via an electrical gate 14. In this manner the textile web foldedintothe compartments is fed through the vat of fluid within a specificperiod; Since the web shrinks during thefluid treatment, with its lengthreducing somewhat, the conveyor means (eg 5) disposed in front of thevat are driven at slightly higher speed than the means (eg 6) disposedbehind the vat.

The textile web is withdrawn over'the rollerl0 from thecompartment inthe drum which has just reached the top (seeFIG. 1). 'In the normal casethe dr'um is given an order by'the stepped drive controls to advance byone compartment just at the moment the uppermost compartment hascompletely emptied, so that the following conveyor means themselvesbegin to withdraw the web from the next compartment. In this case thesensor 8 is moved by the web 1 from the first position, on the left(FIG. 1) into the second position, on the right (FIG. 2), so that theswitch9 is released.

It can however happen that the drum compartments empty too fast or tooslowly, and the switch 9released too early or too late, as compared withthe timing sequence of the stepped switching controls.

If, by reason of unexpectedly heavy shrinkage of the textile web or oftoo slow a speed of conveyor means 5, the uppermost compartment in thedrum contains too little fabric, it becomes empty before the steppedswitching controls issue an order for onward movement. In this casetherefore the sensor 8 moves from the first position at the left intothe second position at the right before the order for advance has beenemitted by the stepped controls. In such an instance the conveyor drivemeans are acted on by the control means, referred to above, to produce aheavier filling of the compartmented drum; for instance the conveyormeans are driven faster, in dependence on the difference in time betweenthe change-over of the sensor and the advance order from the steppedswitching controls. Alternatively, the following conveyor means 6 canalso be altered to a reduced speed.

If, on the contrary, the uppermost compartment is not yet fully emptied(and consequently the sensor 8 has not yet moved from the position inFIG. 1 into that of FIG. 2) when the stepped controls issue the order toadvance, the rotary drive of drum 3 is braked until the sensor 8 hasmade its change. Depending on this time difference the followingconveyor means 6 is preferably also driven at increased speed.

To avoid excessive differences in the filling of the compartments, thespeed of the conveyor means can preferably only be altered by stages,and that only during rotation of the drum.

The apparatus for controlling the speed of movement of the web throughthe vat in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 is illustrated schematicallyin FIG. 4 as comprising a known step-by-step rotary drive 12 for thedrum 3 and which is operated intermittently by a stepped drive control13 that is connected to the drive 12 through an electrical gate 14. Thedrive control 13 not only is connected with the gate, but also isconnected to a differential time detector 15 of known construction. Theswitch 9 has a connection with the gate 14 and also is connected to thedetector 15. The detector is connected to the respective drive means 5aand 6a for the conveyors 5 and 6.

The operation of the speed control means is as follows: each time theswitch 9 is operated by movement of the sensor 8, a signal a istransmitted to the gate 14 and the detector 15. The signal a is operableto open the gate 14 and effect indexing of the drum 3. Each time=thestepped drive control 13 operates, a signal 11 is transmitted to thegate 14 and to the detector 15. The signal I) is operable to open thegate and effect indexing of the drum 3. If the signalsa and b occur atthe same time, then the speeds of the conveyors 5 and 6 are proper forthe speed of the web through the vat. However, if signal a occurs beforesignal b, then either the speed of the conveyor 5 is too slow or thespeed of the conveyor 6 is too fast. Alternatively, if signal b occursbefore signal a, then either the speed of the conveyor 5 is too fast orthe speed of the conveyor 6 is too slow. In either case the detectoracts on the drive means for the respective conveyors to vary therelative speeds as required. That is, if signal 0 occurs before signal12, the drive for the conveyor 5 is accelerated or the drive for theconveyor 6 is decelerated. On the other hand, if signal b occurs beforesignal a, the drive for the conveyor 5 is decelerated or the drive forthe conveyor 6 is accelerated.

The second embodiment of the invention, shown in FIG. 3, consists ingeneral of the same parts as the arrangement in FIG. 1, so that the samereference numerals are provided, and only the somewhat different mode ofoperation is described below.

With this embodiment the compartmented drum 3 is again advanced byintervals of one compartment. In normal operation the textile web isextracted from the compartment which has just come to the top after theadvance of the compartmented drum. For this the sensor 8 assumes theleft-hand first position shown in full lines in which the switch 9 isengaged. After a certain time the uppermost drum compartment is emptied,so that the textile web is then withdrawn from the succeedingcompartment. The sensor 8 now swings into the right-hand secondpositionshown in broken lines and releases the switch 9. Provided thischange-over of sensor 8 from the first to the second position has takenplace within a predetermined time monitored by a time unit, nothing ischanged in the conveyor means disposed in front and behind.

If the case now arises where the sensor 8 has not yet changed over fromthe first to the second position within a predetermined time after theadvance of the drum (in this case there is thus too much textile web inthe top drum compartment), the conveyor drive means are altered toprovide reduced filling of the compartmented drum for instance the frontconveyor means 5 can be allowed to run slower or the rear conveyor means6 to run faster; the two steps may naturally also be combined.

If the reverse case occurs, with the sensor 8 remaining in the second(right-hand) position, shown in broken lines, assumed at the time thedrum advances, this means that the drum compartment turned up to the topcontained no fabric at all before it reached that position. In this casethe conveyor means are immediately altered to provide extra filling ofthe drum compartments; for instance, the drive means 5 in front aredriven faster and/or the drive means 6 behind are driven more slowly.

The apparatus for controlling the speed of movement of the web throughthe vat in the'embodiment of FIG. 3 is illustrated schematically in FIG.5 as including the step-by-step rotary drive 12, the stepped drivecontrol 13, the switch 9, and the time detector 15. In this embodiment,the gate 14 is omitted and a timer unit 16 is connected to the drivecontrol 13 and to the detector 15.

Each time the switch 9 is operated by the sensor 8, a signala istransmitted to the detector 15. Each time the stepped drive control 13is actuated, the drive 12 is indexed, the timer 16 is actuated, and asignal b is transmitted to the detector 15. After the lapse of apredetermined time, the timer 16 transmits a signal 0 to the detector15.

If signal a is transmitted to the detector 15 between the transmissionof signals b and c to the detector, the speed of movement of the webthrough the vat is within proper limits and no change in the speeds ofthe conveyors 5 and 6 is made. However, if signal a is transmitted tothe detector prior to the transmission of signal b, the drive means 5afor the conveyor 5 is accelerated or the drive means 6a for the conveyor6 is decelerated. On the other hand, if signal a is transmitted to thedetector after the transmission of signal 0 to the detector, then thedrive means 511 for the conveyor 5 is decelerated or the drive means 6afor the conveyor 6 is accelerated.

What is claimed is: y

1. Apparatus for the wet treatment of a textile web comprising a vatadapted to contain liquid; a compartmented drum mounted in said vat;timed means for indexing said drum step-by-step; first conveyor meansfor delivering a textile web to said drum; variable speed means fordriving said first conveyor means; second conveyor means for withdrawingsaid web from said drum; variable speed means for driving said secondconveyor means; sensor means; means mounting said sensor means betweensaid vat and said second conveyor means for engagement by said web andfor movement from a first position to a second position, and return, intimed relation to the indexing of said drum; and control means for atleast one of said driving means acted on by said sensor means andoperable to vary the speed of said one of said driving means in responseto failure of said sensor means to move from one of said positions tothe other within a predetermined time interval.

2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said drum has sixcompartments.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein said compartments arespaced uniformly about the periphery of said drum.

4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said 6 drum has an innerradius and an outer radius, said outer radius being at least 1.5 timessaid inner radius.

5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 4 wherein said outer radius is lessthan 3 times said inner radius.

6. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 including liquid in said vat, thelevel of said liquid corresponding substantially to the level of saiddrums axis of rotation.

7. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said drum has a pluralityof partitions forming the compart ments of said drum, said partitionsbeing perforated.

8. Apparatus as set forth in claim 7 wherein the radially outer edges ofsaid partitions are broadened.

9. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 including a pivotal folding devicebetween said first conveyor and said vat operable to fold said web uponitself as it is delivered into said vat.

10. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said control means reducesthe speed of said first conveyor means.

11. Apparatus as set forth in claim} wherein said control nieans reducesthe speed of said second conveyor means.

12. Apparatus as set forth in cofitr'ofiiaah's' increases the speedmeans.

13. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said control meansincreases the speed of said second conveyor means. l

l 1 wherein said id first conveyor

1. Apparatus for the wet treatment of a textile web comprising a vatadapted to contain liquid; a compartmented drum mounted in said vat;timed means for indexing said drum step-by-step; first conveyor meansfor delivering a textile web to said drum; variable speed means fordriving said first conveyor means; second conveyor means for withdrawingsaid web from said drum; variable speed means for driving said secondconveyor means; sensor means; means mounting said sensor means betweensaid vat and said second conveyor means for engagement by said web andfor movement from a first position to a second position, and return, intimed relation to the indexing of said drum; and control means for atleast one of said driving means acted on by said sensor means andoperable to vary the speed of said one of said driving means in responseto failure of said sensor means to move from one of said positions tothe other within a predetermined time interval.
 2. Apparatus as setforth in claim 1 wherein said drum has six compartments.
 3. Apparatus asset forth in claim 2 wherein said compartments are spaced uniformlyabout the periphery of said drum.
 4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1wherein said drum has an inner radius and an outer radius, said outerradius being at least 1.5 times said inner radius.
 5. Apparatus as setforth in claim 4 wherein said outer radius is less than 3 times saidinner radius.
 6. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 including liquid insaid vat, the level of said liquid corresponding substantially to thelevel of said drum''s axis of rotation.
 7. Apparatus as set forth inclaim 1 wherein said drum has a plurality of partitions forming thecompartments of said drum, said partitions being perforated. 8.Apparatus as set forth in claim 7 wherein the radially outer edges ofsaid partitions are broadened.
 9. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1including a pivotal folding device between said first conveyor and saidvat operable to fold said web upon itself as it is delivered into saidvat.
 10. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said control meansreduces the speed of said first conveyor means.
 11. Apparatus as setforth in claim 1 wherein said control means reduces the speed of saidsecond conveyor means.
 12. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 whereinsaid control means increases the speed of said first conveyor means. 13.Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said control means increasesthe speed of said second conveyor means.